Key Excerpts from David Kay's Testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee:

Acting in Iraq was justified to protect the United States and the world

Senator McCain: "[Y]ou agree with the fundamental principle here that what we did was justified and enhance the security of the United States and the world by removing Saddam Hussein from power?"

David Kay: "Absolutely."

"It would be hard to come to a conclusion other than Iraq was a gathering, serious threat"

Senator Kennedy: "Many of us feel that the evidence so far leads only to one conclusion: that what has happened was more than a failure of intelligence, it was the result of manipulation of the intelligence to justify a decision to go to war..........."

David Kay: ".......All I can say is if you read the total body of intelligence in the last 12 to 15 years that flowed on Iraq, I quite frankly think it would be hard to come to a conclusion other than Iraq was a gathering, serious threat to the world with regard to WMD."

"Iraq was in clear violation of the terms of Resolution 1441"

"In my judgment, based on the work that has been done to this point of the Iraq Survey Group, and in fact, that I reported to you in October, Iraq was in clear violation of the terms of Resolution 1441. Resolution 1441 required that Iraq report all of its activities: one last chance to come clean about what it had. We have discovered hundreds of cases, based on both documents, physical evidence and the testimony of Iraqis, of activities that were prohibited under the initial U.N. Resolution 687 and that should have been reported under 1441, with Iraqi testimony that not only did they not tell the U.N. about this, they were instructed not to do it and they hid material."

"Iraq was in clear and material violation of 1441. They maintained programs and activities, and they certainly had the intentions at a point to resume their program. So there was a lot they wanted to hide because it showed what they were doing that was illegal. I hope we find even more evidence of that."

"The world is far safer with the disappearance and removal of Saddam Hussein"

"I think the world is far safer with the disappearance and the removal of Saddam Hussein. I have said I actually think this may be one of those cases where it was even more dangerous than we thought. I think when we have the complete record you're going to discover that after 1998 it became a regime that was totally corrupt. Individuals were out for their own protection. And in a world where we know others are seeking WMD, the likelihood at some point in the future of a seller and a buyer meeting up would have made that a far more dangerous country than even we anticipated with what may turn out not to be a fully accurate estimate."

Analysts were not pressured

"And let me take one of the explanations most commonly given: Analysts were pressured to reach conclusions that would fit the political agenda of one or another administration. I deeply think that is a wrong explanation. And never -- not in a single case -- was the explanation, 'I was pressured to do this.' The explanation was, very often, 'The limited data we had led one to reasonably conclude this. I now see that there's another explanation for it' ...... And each case was different, but the conversations were sufficiently in depth and our relationship was sufficiently frank that I'm convinced that, at least to the analysts I dealt with, I did not come across a single one that felt it had been, in the military term, 'inappropriate command influence' that led them to take that position."

"Absolutely no doubt" Saddam harbored ambitions to develop and use WMD

Senator McCain: "Saddam Hussein developed and used weapons of mass destruction; true?"

David Kay: "Absolutely."

Senator McCain: "He used them against the Iranians and the Kurds; just yes or no."

David Kay: "Oh, yes."

Senator McCain: "OK. And U.N. inspectors found enormous quantities of banned chemical and biological weapons in Iraq in the '90s."

David Kay: "Yes, sir."

Senator McCain: "We know that Saddam Hussein had once a very active nuclear program."

David Kay: "Yes."

Senator McCain: "And he realized and had ambitions to develop and use weapons of mass destruction."

David Kay: "Clearly."

Senator McCain: "So the point is, if he were in power today, there is no doubt that he would harbor ambitions for the development and use of weapons of mass destruction. Is there any doubt in your mind?"

David Kay: "There's absolutely no doubt. And I think I've said that, Senator."

"We have learned things that no U.N. inspector would have ever learned given the terror regime of Saddam"

Senator Clinton: "I think that rightly does raise questions that we should be examining about whether or not the U.N. inspection process pursuant to 1441 might not also have worked without the loss of life that we have confronted both among our own young men and women, as well as Iraqis."

David Kay: "Well, Senator Clinton, let me just add to that. We have had a number of Iraqis who have come forward and said, 'We did not tell the U.N. about what we were hiding, nor would we have told the U.N. because we would run the risk of our own' -- I think we have learned things that no U.N. inspector would have ever learned given the terror regime of Saddam and the tremendous personal consequences that scientists had to run by speaking the truth." That's not to say, and it's not incompatible with the fact that inspections accomplish a great deal in holding a program down. And that's where the surprise is. In holding the program down, in keeping it from break out, I think the record is better than we would have anticipated. I don't think the record is necessarily better than we thought with regard to getting the final truth, because of the power of the terrorist state that Saddam Hussein had."

No mass quantities of WMD have been found. Iraq was not even close to even becoming a gathering serious threat. Bush administration flip flops the reason for going to war from WMD, to "gathering serious threat". What would you call North Korea by the way right around the time we went to war? Our bosom buddies right? They'd most likely love to nuke us back to the stoneage. Basically what I'm saying is Kay is not to be trusted, he has already been tainted, most likely for some time now...

Originally posted by modman No mass quantities of WMD have been found. Iraq was not even close to even becoming a gathering serious threat. Bush administration flip flops the reason for going to war from WMD, to "gathering serious threat". What would you call North Korea by the way right around the time we went to war? Our bosom buddies right? They'd most likely love to nuke us back to the stoneage. Basically what I'm saying is Kay is not to be trusted, he has already been tainted, most likely for some time now...

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Take off the tinfoil, dude, your head is bubbling up and it's gonna explode!

Originally posted by modman No mass quantities of WMD have been found. Iraq was not even close to even becoming a gathering serious threat. Bush administration flip flops the reason for going to war from WMD, to "gathering serious threat". What would you call North Korea by the way right around the time we went to war? Our bosom buddies right? They'd most likely love to nuke us back to the stoneage. Basically what I'm saying is Kay is not to be trusted, he has already been tainted, most likely for some time now...

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I'm not sure that anyone has said or inferred that the North Korean search for nuclear weapons is a good thing. Nor, do I believe that anyone offered up Iraq as the only country which was a danger. I don't think that believing that Saddam Hussein wanted, sought and had the capability of getting WMD actually meant that no one else had such propensities.

I can't believe they're spinning his words to the ends that they are. It's rediculous. Like this:

David Kay, the former head of the inspection team, has said the administration's intelligence on Iraq was "almost all wrong" and that the information on which Bush's war decision was based was erroneous.

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Anyway, at least it's making it clear as day right now who the left-biased media is.

Originally posted by jimnyc Take off the tinfoil, dude, your head is bubbling up and it's gonna explode!

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My tinfoil picks up signals from the media that the Bush White House may have started an illegal war. I think your tinfoil needs adjustment. Maybe a set of rabbit ears. It sounds like the signals are not getting through to you? Now I have to state this Jim. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I don't use the foil to block out the government's brain melting radio waves. I just state what I have heard through the news services. I have no party affiliation. I am happy with repubs or dems as long as they do a good job and are credible. Bush is not up to my standards as far a president goes. I don't think he can be trusted the way he flip flops and misleads. From Iraq to medicare, job loss, on and on, this elephant just is'nt flying. Now I don't know what your hang up is. I would have to assume by your nickname that you reside in or around NYC. This is another tough thing for me to state. I can understand you Jim if you were standing around the twin towers when they fell. Maybe you walked out of the smoke covered with dust and from that point on you were strongly opinionated on going after the people that knocked the buildings down like Bush said. I know there are alot of people down in NYC that still have strong fellings like this. Alot of people can't even talk about it. But here is where it gets different. And please don't take this the wrong way. Where I live Jim, you guys in NYC are basically laughed at nowadays. Sure eveyone has some admiration for the great city, but somewhere along the line people in rural parts of this nation all of the sudden got sick of this thing. The feeling is now is that you should just get over with it and get on with life. And you probably say this is what you did or are doing. It just does'nt come off that way. Everything does'nt revolve around NYC and Washington. We are at the point now where we need a change. There are far more things in this country that need fixing first than in Iraq. The change will start in washington and end up benefitting the whole country. I'm just trying to understand where you are coming from when you defend Bush. Like I said you may or may not have walked out of the rubble where you seen George Bush as your savior and revenge. I 'm just trying to understand where you people come from when you defend this man? Like I said we have played this record long enough. We can't keep using terrorism as the excuse for everything because it means very little to the majority of people in this country. What means something is jobs, the debt etc... And the funniest part of it is the national security situation. This is the biggest waste of tax payer dollars in qite sometime. And you know why it's so funny, becuase there is nothing stopping someone from driving 10 ryder vans full of liquid furtilyzer right up to or inside the empire state building. You will never be able to take away thier opportunities to induce mass casualties. Just help me understand how bush is benefitting this country and why you like him so much. And don't give me 100 quotes. I know what I said. I want to hear your answer as to how George Bush has benefitted this country?

The feeling is now is that you should just get over with it and get on with life. And you probably say this is what you did or are doing. It just does'nt come off that way. Everything does'nt revolve around NYC and Washington

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Why don't you explain that to my many friend's wives, husbands, and children who have lost their loved ones !

I think your statement is way out of line ! This is not about everything revolving around NYC and Washington, it is about the many friends that I and many others have lost !

Originally posted by modman And please don't take this the wrong way. Where I live Jim, you guys in NYC are basically laughed at nowadays.

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I've replied to the questions you have asked at least 100 times on this board and don't have the time right now to repeat myself. Read some older threads if you are that curious as to why I have faith in Bush and what he has done for this country.

As for your comment about NYC - do you have any basis for such a stupid claim? Any proof whatsoever that NYC is laughed at? Please, share with us where you get this data from.

Nobody is whining in the city. Everybody banded together immediately to make a spectacular recovery from those events. Business's helped one another by sharing offices. Neighbors helped one another. Politicians stood side by side to get things back on track. Just about everyone has gotten over 9/11 a long time ago, they just chose not to forget. The city is prospering once again and things are back to normal.

I am not from NYC nor have I ever had the pleasure of visiting this great city. However, after the twin towers if there had been a way for me to go there I would have been there. If there are people laughing at NYC ,I wonder what is so funny? almost 3000 lives lost and you laugh...as for what G.W.has done for the country...are you serious??? as for protecting the empire state building....what do you propose???shut down NYC? how about move it? do you want a garison in your backyard??? Life has return to a resembilance of normal for the city and this nation..there will always be a crackpot that wants his 15 minutes of fame....how far are you going to get TRYING to buy fertilizer..safe gaurds are in place....Aisle 7...middle of the row, on sale...tin-foil

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